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"Easiest" and "Hardest" Companies

December 02, 2018 05:59PM
Easiest
Market Force
Secret Shopper

Hardest
ACL (nothing compared to Coyle though)
Coyle

What do you think? Which are yours?
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December 02, 2018 06:10PM
Easiest:
Ipsos
SQM

Most difficult:
Coyle
Data Quest

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams
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December 02, 2018 08:24PM
If you find ACL reports difficult, you probably have not done enough other shops with narratives. I find theirs very easy.

Easy:
Informa
ACL
Kinesis
Servimer
Clear Evaluations

Hard
Coyle
Date Quest


I do no work for MF and almost none for Intellishop.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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December 03, 2018 03:57AM
easy
CRI or Stericycle
IPSOS
Bare

Hard
Coyle
ACL

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
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December 03, 2018 04:23AM
Easy......Mercantile, New Wave, Iposos, Trend Source, Informa, Service Sense.
Difficult..Cirrus, Coyle

Live consciously....
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December 03, 2018 05:19PM
Easiest:
iSecretShop
Servimer

Hardest:
Sentry (especially the Brazilian steakhouse shop!!)
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December 03, 2018 06:24PM
Easy Peasy: Albatross, HS Brands, Trendsource
So Hard I May Die: Amusement Advantage, MCG
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December 03, 2018 07:06PM
I don't really find any of the reports hard....EXCEPT I do have to agree with @Monk-N-Nut on Amusement Advantage. Some of their reports take sooooo long and are sooooo repetitive that it takes the fun out of going to the place of amusement.
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December 03, 2018 09:42PM
Hardest: Coyle

Easiest: ACL (because I "learned" from Coyle)
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December 04, 2018 12:17AM
@Jill_L wrote:

I don't really find any of the reports hard....EXCEPT I do have to agree with @Monk-N-Nut on Amusement Advantage. Some of their reports take sooooo long and are sooooo repetitive that it takes the fun out of going to the place of amusement.

Funny story, a scheduler was sending out 'desperate' emails for a local bowling place. I was out of rotation but said a family member could do it but I would need to go with as they have never completed ANY mystery shops before. I offered to go with (make sure all photos were taken/ guidelines followed). I was told NOPE! That this shop was so easy it would be fine for someone to do as their first ever shop.
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December 04, 2018 12:57AM
The bowling one is easy. G-d help you with the aquarium.
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December 04, 2018 05:33AM
I haven't done bowling shops for them yet.

I have done other sorts of amusements....zoos, aquariums, fun centers, etc.

I don't know if a new shopper should be introduced to the business with a AA shop....
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December 04, 2018 06:59PM
Easy - Market Force, SCM, A Closer Look, Bare, Trend Source, Mercantile, Service Sense, I Secret Shop, DJC
Hard - Coyle, Sentry
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December 04, 2018 07:40PM
@Monk-N-Nut wrote:

So Hard I May Die: Amusement Advantage
Do you think they're actually difficult, or is it that they go on and on and on and you think you're never going to finish?

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams
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December 04, 2018 10:07PM
Most tedious = Coyle
Least tedious = all other MSC's
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December 04, 2018 10:27PM
Easiest: SeeLevel, North Fork, Ann Michaels and ath.

Hardest: Intellishop (you are fraudulent before proven otherwise), ACL and the hardest company to please or even satisfy is Bestmark.
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December 04, 2018 11:02PM
@ iShop123 - They go on for 3-4 hours and are blindingly repetitive. Of course, I prolong the agony by whining, procrastinating, and carrying on like a hangry preschooler.
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December 04, 2018 11:48PM
ARC phone shops are the worst!!! They don’t let you listen to the recording but you have to answer every question EXACTLY the way it went with zero deviation from phone call.

Market Force is the easiest. Love their shops! They are great to work with too. They answer questions and pay well and fast.
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December 05, 2018 12:04AM
Easiest; Marketforce, Second to None
Worst;
A Closer Look
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December 05, 2018 12:24AM
Easiest: agree Marketforce
Hardest: Maritz no rhyme or reason to their software
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December 05, 2018 12:42AM
Color me shocked, most of my shops are with A Closer Look, I think Coyle is hard, everyone else is easy. (I have never done an Amusement shop for AA). I have a new high end theater shops with service scouts (I did not name the theater or even the type, so I think I am OK), and it sounds very tedious, which is what I consider hard.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC
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December 05, 2018 02:21AM
Coyle is on another level of complexity. I like the challenge and I like writing the reports, but we recently did a $180 shop for ACL that took maybe 1.5 hours to write up, and a similar Coyle shop will take me 4 hours, maybe more.
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December 05, 2018 02:49AM
@Jill_L wrote:

I haven't done bowling shops for them yet.

I have done other sorts of amusements....zoos, aquariums, fun centers, etc.

I don't know if a new shopper should be introduced to the business with a AA shop....

I find their reports to be extremely easy although they are long...but again easy to do. The hard part when I went to the Aquarium was finding the locations to report on. I would not recommend these to a first timer either just because they are so long a first timer would start to wonder why they were mystery shopping not realizing all reports are not like that.
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December 05, 2018 05:02AM
Easy is pretty much any shop I can complete using an app. Hardest and most tedious was Coyle. I said no more even though my grade was good.
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December 05, 2018 02:53PM
Hardest: Coyle, AA, Service Scouts
Easiest: Everyone else!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2018 02:54PM by foodluvr.
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December 06, 2018 02:33AM
@luckygirl0100 wrote:

@Jill_L wrote:

I don't really find any of the reports hard....EXCEPT I do have to agree with @Monk-N-Nut on Amusement Advantage. Some of their reports take sooooo long and are sooooo repetitive that it takes the fun out of going to the place of amusement.

Funny story, a scheduler was sending out 'desperate' emails for a local bowling place. I was out of rotation but said a family member could do it but I would need to go with as they have never completed ANY mystery shops before. I offered to go with (make sure all photos were taken/ guidelines followed). I was told NOPE! That this shop was so easy it would be fine for someone to do as their first ever shop.


I completed one shop with Amusement Advantage. I swore that I would never do another one. That was the longest report that I have ever seen.

****************


Motivation increases when we assume large responsibilities with a short deadline.
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December 06, 2018 02:55AM
Any newbies lurking..people always say intellishop is awful. They did have a system mess up with people's pay recently. They fixed that issue at least with me, and I personally really like them. Make sure you try them out before creating your opinion.

I haven't really had super tough shops yet but I agree with everyone else thus far on the easiest mscs
..

Shopping Idaho and Oregon/Idaho border region.


Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2018 02:56AM by dawnhu.
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December 06, 2018 04:31AM
@pammie8223 wrote:

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

@Jill_L wrote:

I don't really find any of the reports hard....EXCEPT I do have to agree with @Monk-N-Nut on Amusement Advantage. Some of their reports take sooooo long and are sooooo repetitive that it takes the fun out of going to the place of amusement.

Funny story, a scheduler was sending out 'desperate' emails for a local bowling place. I was out of rotation but said a family member could do it but I would need to go with as they have never completed ANY mystery shops before. I offered to go with (make sure all photos were taken/ guidelines followed). I was told NOPE! That this shop was so easy it would be fine for someone to do as their first ever shop.


I completed one shop with Amusement Advantage. I swore that I would never do another one. That was the longest report that I have ever seen.

I've done numerous and they don't bother me but I'd definitely never set up anyone to do it as their first shop ever. There are just way too many things to remember and the reports are redundant. I just found it funny the scheduler thought they were so easy, I wonder if she has actually completed any.....
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December 06, 2018 05:53PM
The hardest ones I've done have been for TrueGuest (although I enjoy working with that company). I have not found A Closer Look to be hard at all, nor BestMark. Easiest: JMRidgway. I agree that Amusement Advantage is time consuming and difficult, but sometimes I enjoy those as well.
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December 06, 2018 10:31PM
I find the reports easy, just long. I take lots of notes at the zoo. I think newbies could start with MF to get their feet wet.
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